“Twilight, pass the ball over here!” shouted Pinkie Pie frantically, waving her hooves in the air with both glee and desperate tenacity.
Smiling at the display, Twilight chucked the purple ball forwards with a single lobbing arch from her magic, sending the soft rubber sphere directly towards the spunky pink pony.
Seeing her opportunity, the airborne Rainbow Dash made an immediate 180 degree turn in her flight path and rocketed towards the gap between Twilight and Pinkie, hoping to intercept the ball before it reached its recipient.
Too late. Clutching the ball tightly with her hoof and foreleg, Pinkie tossed the ball to Rainbow’s right, straight into the waiting hooves of Applejack.
“Y’all gotta be faster than that Rainbow if you ever wanna to get out of the middle.” AJ chided at the sky blue pegasus.
The six friends (plus Spike) had been screwing around for the better part of an hour along one of Ponyville’s several spanning plains. The sun hung highly at half mast across the cloudless sky, approaching its predetermined dip off the edge of the Earth.
“It’s not far!” grumbled Dash in despair. “Being the monkey in the middle is always the hardest. I deserve a partner or something.”
AJ shook her head stoutly. “That ain’t what the rules are. All of us have been in the middle plenty of times. You just gotta be ready—” AJ briskly bounced the ball off the bright grass and followed up with one of her signature propelling bucks that rocketing the ball into a line drive, “—for anything!”
Spike stood poised to receive the ball, with bent knees and open claws just waiting to catch the rubber orb. But, as the purple cannonball blasted towards him, in the last few split seconds the baby dragon began to doubt his own abilities. The ball, colliding against his chest with an audible slapping sound, Spike tripped backwards and landed flat on his back, stars dancing in his eyes as the world shifted up and down.
“Are you okay, Spike?” called Twilight a few yards away, her even tone displaying neither shock nor worry.
Diving for the ball that now rolled harmlessly across the grass, Rainbow triumphantly held it towards the sky in victory. “I did it!” she announced happily. “I’m not in the middle anymore!”
“Hold on Rainbow,” cut in AJ as she walked over with the rest of the collective group. “I don’t think Spike is in all that good of a position to play anymore.”
“Ohhh, Spikey-poo,” cooed Rarity as she knelt over the wounded dragon, rubbing his chin affectionately. “Are you okay?”
Pink hearts danced into the whites of Spike’s eyes as he sprang back to his feet almost immediately. Exhaling deeply, he sighed in pure bliss while clasping both his claws together. “I am now.”
“He doesn’t look all that bad,” agreed Fluttershy with a nod. “But maybe he could use a bandage on his knee, a small one too.”
The group of friends casually chatted over the not quite dire situation, trying to decide if the mortal wound on Spike (a skinned knee) should either be treated or ignored. As they discussed over everything, a lone Royal Guard pegasus graced high above their heads, and landed on a hill overlooking the bright green plain.
Immediately spotting the white furred stallion, Twilight turned to the rest of her friends. “You guys keep playing, looks like I have some princess duties to take care of,” she gestured to the silent colt in the distance.
Agreeing, the ponies and Spike got back to their game as Twilight half trotted, half fluttered over to the waiting Guard.
Stopping in front of him, Princess Twilight smiled warmly while fancying a quick bow of her head. “Hello there, what seems to be on the agenda today?”
The stone faced Guard saluted to Twilight and cleared his throat, not wishing to even skip half of a beat. “Princess Twilight, a recent development has just come out of Canterlot. I was instructed to deliver this message to you personally.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed. “What’s happened?”
“A missing persons report was filed just under an hour ago from Equestria’s External Affairs offices. Details at this moment remain murky, but we do have some general information supplied by the lead administrator.”
“Is an investigation already under way?”
“It’s being organized but no significant actions have been taken as of yet. We’ve been awaiting your personal overseeing of the operation before we begin.”
Twilight rubbed the edge of her chin in pondering. “Who specifically is missing then? Is it one of our ambassadors?”
The Guard shook his head. “Nothing of that magnitude, but it still is an extraordinary situation. The reason we are requesting your assistance is not only due to the wisdom that your Alicorn powers can grant, but as well as your personal connection to the missing. It’s the human, Alistair.”
Twilight could feel something faint drop into the pit of her chest but quickly felt it dissipate from herself, replaced with a cool constitution of focus that soothed her nerves. Still, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes in shock, not expecting the bad news the Guard had bore.
“My goodness…” she exclaimed quietly while bringing a hoof to her forehead. “This is important news.”
The Guard continued. “He was due back from an expedition to the Vile Stretch three days ago. His last reported location was aboard a personal watercraft travelling along Equestria’s eastern coast. From the orders I’ve been given, you’ve been requested to return to Canterlot immediately.”
Twilight nodded slowly, doing her best to shake off the clouding feelings of panic and desperation. “I understand. If there’s anypony who knows Alistair best, it’s me. We’re close friends after all.”
The Guard politely inclined his head forward. “Do you need transportation of goods or luggage, your highness? I am fully equipped to carry whatever you find necessary.”
She shook her head dismissively. “That won’t be needed, I can leave now. I just need to speak with my friends about this.”
Strutting back down the hill’s incline much slower than her original ascent, she carefully approached her gleeful friends with the troubling news. The festivities of the day would all but end shortly after.